A Rekindled Flame
by TheSpanishInquisition97
Summary: When the towns of Hoenn closed their doors to the pokemon outside, and they were allowed to roam free, getting bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger. Five friends embark on a journey, and unite the pokemon and people once more. They rekindle the flame.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Pokémon.**

**Hello friends. This is coming up on a new year and my birthday is creeping up, so I figgered it was time for a new story. Any of you have probably become accustomed to my lighthearted stories with funnies and laughs. Well, if you're expecting this to be like the others, turn off this computer, go do some jumping jacks and then read A Whole New World and shut up, remember your aerobics and enjoy that. Otherwise, know that this story will be bloody, abnormal and violent. There will be little inappropriate language and references due to my parents but I will make do. If you have heart problems, do not read this. If you are weak and chickenhearted, do not read this. If you like awesome, read it. My writing will probably change over time with this, and may get better or worse. Read and review, because that will keep me going with this. With that, may I introduce to you…**

A Rekindled Flame

_It was a time when trainers and pokemon grew apart, when the government stopped sending trainers, when the pokemon became to feral. A time when the towns closed their doors to the pokemon and let the beasts grow larger and larger, and more wild until the only ones kept were experimented on, kept locked up and under constant guard. It was also a time when one young boy and his four friends lose something dear, and they leave Lilycove forever. They slip past their parents and embark together, to rekindle the flame that had once been pokemon. Slowly, people begin to emerge, trickles of humans who have heard the stories, and want to live it. Soon the trickles become streams and the streams open up the floodgates and-. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. This is the story of the first four, and how they changed the world, for better or for worse._

Happiness had never been a big part of my life, and neither had hastiness. All of Lilycove city was much like a hive of giant combee, buzzing and busy, productive as hell but never with any zeal, any _substance_. The walls were thick and tall, with men patrolling and armed, eyes constantly trained on the encroaching forest. The buildings were huge and colorful, reaching up to the sky, and the city itself was beautiful, full of gardens and fountains. One could lose themselves staring at the people bustling around, pushing past and mumbling excuses under their breath as they rushed to work, school or another day at the beach. Sometimes I felt as though I was the only person in all of Lilycove that took the time to stop, stare and listen.

Of course, my parents seemed to blame this on each other, saying that one time, back in each other's lineage there was a dreamer, a starer, a watcher. My father was a corporate manager, and always seemed to think this kept him exempt from more mundane things, like family dinners, movies and talks. My father's name was Henry and he was never there.

My mother was the perfect mom, beautiful, immaculate and caring. Each lunch she packed for me or another day at high school was so cute and loving that it made him want to throw up. She was always there when I came home, with trays full of snacks for my friends and I as we threw down our bags and slumped into chairs and couches, weary after a long day. Everything she did she did for no reason but that she loved me, and I loved her for it. Her name was Alexandra, and she was there.

Today was a school day, and of course, I just _had_ to be there.

"But Mom, pleeeease? I'm sick, really!" I coughed weakly and moaned when she shook her head. "C'mon, look at me here, I am dying!"

"No honey, you're not. Now go catch up to your friends, and get going."

I groaned and hoisted up my backpack, trudged out the door and made a big show of stumbling around before I ran to catch up to my friends. Now I'm not going to lie, I have a great life. I have great friends, a great mom and my dad is rich, so he matters too. My school is awesome, I get good grades and I get rewarded. I've never wanted anything but this.

Unfortunately, sometimes life has a different plan.

I caught up to my friends and we walked and talked, shoving each other around as we joined the flood pouring into Lilycove Highschool. We have the best high school in all of Hoenn here, and my mom and dad always say that's why we moved here, but I know that's not the case.

My mom was originally from the city of Rustboro, but she had left the city when she was only sixteen because of a disagreement with her mother and sister. She boarded a train to Lilycove and rode out of their lives forever. She met dad in a coffee shop here and married him quickly. She never left Lilycove and hardly ever spoke of her family.

One night, during a dinner she received a phone call. She had left the dining room and talked quietly, exchanging pleasantries and laughing weakly for a little. When she got off the phone and sat back down, I had asked her what was up.

"Nothing Honey, don't worry. Eat your starly and be quiet." She had never talked to me like that before, so I left it alone, not knowing how to answer that. Only later that night when I woke up to go to the bathroom and found my mother, with an industrial sized box of tissues, a featherbed and old pictures silently crying did I know what had happened.

From behind me my dad came up and pulled me away by my hand, sat me down and said to me seriously, "Son, it's time we had a talk, okay?"

"Does this have anything to do with Mama right now?" I had been only eight, and didn't really understand what was happening.

He sighed, running his hand down his face and said quietly, "Your grandma is dead, son."

I looked at him, confused. "How is she dead, we saw her yesterday! Why aren't you sad? I thought you told me that mom didn't even-"

He cut me off sharply. "Your mother's mother. Not mine. She lived in Rustboro and your mother hadn't seen her in a very long time. She misses her, and she's going to visit your sister for a few days. So, I'm going to be in charge of you."

So began the father son week that never ended. It was that week that I really learned how much I appreciated my mother. She gave me warm meals that didn't come from boxes, loving kisses and not brusque farewells and late hours. When she got home I wrapped her in such a big hug that she burst out crying all over again. My dad yelled at me for that one so much I thought he'd never stop.

It was a sad time, my mom had had a long flight and apparently the pokémon had been stirring up again, and she had seen something she had never mentioned, and scared her deeply. Since she was a baby, she had always been afraid of them, after her father, my great grandfather had been killed by a trained charizard whose trainer had thought it was under control. Her oldest brother had died even later, when he left the city to see his girlfriend and had been literally torn apart by the wild pokemon. They found his body, or what remained of it, in eight different places. Even after the reclusion she never quite got over it, she was always casting fearful glances to the foreboding forest. She was always on guard, always ready.

The day was great outside, but of course, it was going to be wasted. My friends and I were all walking in one group, side by side, forcing pedestrians to move out of the way.

Each one that stepped off the street glared at us and usually mumbled, "Damn teenagers," or anything remotely like that. Of course, we didn't care. We were fifteen and sixteen, almost adults and practically above the law.

Lilycove, while being a huge city, was relatively closed in. Well, every city was closed in, but Lilycove more so. Every kid I knew I had known for years, watching them grow up (or not) and finally become who we were today. My friends were the best example of that. We had all known each other forever, and were practically brothers and sisters in all but blood. There were five of us, three boys and two girls, but everyone treated each other the same.

There was Darell, huge and glowering. The kid was almost six and a half feet tall, and built like the tauros that the biology teachers kept mentioning. He had huge, meaty hands and two bushy eyebrows that covered his small, beady eyes. He was the youngest of our group though, only fourteen but smart enough to be two grades ahead. Any person that met him was surprised of his smarts and his personality. He was as playful as a skitty, well, before they showed their six inch long claws and scratched your eyes out. Of course, when he played he was liable to knock someone out, or break a limb or two. I had met him first in kindergarten, when an older kid was bullying me. He was always pushing me around, and I was new to the school, so I didn't have anyone to stick up for me. He cornered me one day, and I had called out, and all of a sudden the silent kid I had never known existed lifted him up and tossed him bodily into the wall. Darell had been my protector and friend ever since. He spoke with a slight stutter, but not because he was slow. He had trouble saying what he was thinking, probably due to the fact he has a lot going on up there.

The first girl to join our little group was Mindy, a bubbly blonde that seemed to never stop talking. She was a dreamer, like me, but dreamed of dangerous, stupid things like the time before the reclusions and the trainers that used to roam around, catching and training. She hadn't ever formally joined us, just walked in one day and started babbling, and gradually, we accepted her. She was smart, but she could never seem to focus, always trailing off in those daydreams of hers. She never seemed to notice Darell staring at her wistfully. It was almost enough to make me feel like the third wheel, but eventually someone new came along.

Blake, well he was always the cool one, handsome and easily smart. He did pretty much everything easily, and it was almost enough to make me throw up when he showed up one day at my house, knocked on the door and somehow walked into our lives. He had bruises on his face and cuts on his arms, but didn't mention how or when he got them. We eventually figured it out, but he didn't have to tell us. The shouts coming from his apartment and his father and mothers absence from every single sports game, play and award ceremony was noted. Of course, this was not talked about (at least, not to him).He was tall and thin, with black curly hair framing his thin face. He had the body of a runner and the arms of a football player, yet somehow he talked to us. Underneath his cool, screw it all demeanor was a little boy, always trying to grow up but continuously beat down by his dad. He was childish yet somehow seemed to be more mature than us all. He fit in perfectly.

The last girl was still a mystery to me. Beautiful, dark haired, slim, kind, caring, funny, Kara was perfect in every single way, but still wild and uncontrollable. She was the one that always organized everything, all in one way to show us that she wasn't a kid, that she was a grown up and damnit, she can do whatever she wants. She pulled pranks, messed around, got in trouble with teachers, drank, talked back and yet at the end of the day, she acted like a child, exactly what she pretended not to be. And today, she would start everything just to prove that she wasn't a kid anymore.

"Guys, let's do something crazy today," Kara suggested, a gleam in her eyes we all knew was best to avoid.

"What?" Blake asked, yawning widely, his white teeth showing.

"How about we skip?" she asked, voice dropping to a low whisper.

"I dunno guys, I don't want to break my perfect attendance record…" Darell said in his slow, halting speech, a cautious eye on Kara.

"C'mon Darell, live life, go out, kiss a girl, have some fun." Kara was pleading now.

He turned a deep red and stammered out, "I-I've kissed a g-girl. Y-you just d-don't know her."

Kara rolled her eyes but knew better than to press him. Then she turned to me.

"Ralph, don't you want to go? It'll be fun. You know." She sidled up to me and I flinched away. "Please? For me?"

Of course, I didn't have much in the way of that. I couldn't really say no, could I?

Of course, because of me, everything went to hell.

Of course, it was all my fault.__

Cutting was so much fun, well, at least it was when you weren't worrying about being caught and throwing terrified glances behind your shoulder. Okay, so maybe cutting wasn't all that great.

We went to the town square, keeping our heads down and giggling like we were little kids again. The fountain was blowing high today, and we sat in the shade, sipping lemonade and licking ice cream as we laughed and glanced around, not entirely at ease.

Of course, about twelve minutes and forty two seconds into our day off we were caught. A hand suddenly caught the scruff of my t-shirt and pulled me up as if I weighed no more than a piece of paper. I struggled against the grip but saw my friends in likewise positions, except of course for Darell. None of these police officers were going to even touch the big guy. I expected them to bring us to school, which went down Steel Street and was at the end of Ember Avenue, but they turned the opposite direction. They were taking us directly towards the center of the city, where the police station was.

Oh. Crap.

Kara was the only one that fought, shaking her arms and legs and growling as the man hauled her up and dragged her down the street by her ear. The people gave curious looks directed at the odd pair but didn't think much else of it. The street was smooth and paved in cobblestone, but that didn't stop Darell from tripping over his own feet.

The buildings were taller towards the center, where the big department store was. The department store was six floors of unneeded glorified stuff, video games, clothes lavish things no one would ever buy. Right next to it was the small, squat police station and the lab, pride and joy of all of Hoenn.

Darell moaned and began struggling when he saw where his father, the leading scientist at the lab, worked_**.**_ He labored there day and night__on the study of pokemon, the feral beasts that had once been our friends and companions on long journeys. They now inhabit the forests along cities and roads. They lived in deserts, the ocean and even the sky. They were our greatest pride, our greatest fear, our greatest shame and our greatest failure.

The men pulled us through the revolving double doors and led us up a flight of sleek chrome stairs before throwing the five of us to the feet before the professor, Darell's father.

He had been expecting us and obviously was not happy to have five teenagers interrupting his important work.

"Kids, I think you know why you're here," he said, glaring down at them. The doctor was a weedy man, with receding hair and thin, weak arms. He had thick-framed glasses and a small nose. He looked absolutely nothing like his son, but his personality was too much like him. Sometimes I felt like I was looking at a second Darell despite his stature.

"You wanted our company?" Kara suggested weakly.

"Unfortunately, no. We know you were cutting, but that's not the point. We're here because of this." At his words the lights dimmed and he swept his arm out, illuminating the series of light up boards that covered an entire side of the lab.

On each board was a complicated chart, with small, cramped handwriting and colorful pictures. He led us over to the first one, which was tallying the amount of pokemon related deaths.

"Kids, I trust that you all know about the reclusion almost one hundred years ago, right?"

We all nodded. Learning this was required in the Hoenn school system. It was common knowledge why and how it had happened.

"Then you all know that the reclusion was because the pokemon got to dangerous. They were threatening the lives of the children adventuring out, looking to carve a niche for themselves in the wall of fame. The wild tore these kids apart, children. The ones tat survived had seen their pokemon ripped to shreds, attacked, maimed. The ones that didn't, well, when we got lucky and found their bodies, well, it wasn't a pretty sight. The young trainer death rate was seventy four percent! **Seventy-four! **We couldn't afford these losses any more. We had to stop."

"How do you know so much about this? Were you even born then?" Blake challenged, as he always did. He seemed to have a talent for arguing with teachers and the like.

Fortunately for Dr. Nieves, he was a tad bit smarter than your average teacher. "No Blake, see I do a little thing called read. It helps in life_**. **_Maybe you should try it and stop whining about everything in your life."

Blake's eyes flashed in anger and he said in a voice with barely controlled anger, "You do not want to know what goes on in my life, Dr. Nieves."

Dr. Nieves changed the subject and said, "Now look at this chart kids. This one details the amount of deaths in people due to pokemon after the reclusion. If you can tell, the amount of deaths has gone down significantly to only about two hundred a year. However, we have a problem. There has been word that the pokemon have… adapted. In the hundred years since we cut off contact, they changed themselves to new types of species. They are still the same, but due to breeding between different species, many pokemon have adapted to take a new type, and therefore made themselves even more powerful. Naturally, we scientists are very confused and excited about this new development."

"Dad I really enjoyed the science lesson," Darell said, and you could tell he was serious. "But what does this have to do with us?"

"I want you to catch me some."

Silence greeted his proclamation for a few seconds before Kara burst out laughing.

"You can't be serious, Dr. N," she said incredulously when she saw the look on his face. "Oh, God help us. You are."

"Here, this is what's going to happen." The usually amiable doctor's voice had an edge in it as he continued. "If you guys collect the pokemon I want you to, there will be no punishment. If you capture any extra, you will be paid, got it?"

Darell looked afraid and said, "D-dad? What about m-me? Y-you don't m-mean me to, do you?"

"Of course I do, Darell. You broke the law, and you must be punished, son or no. In Lilycove, this is how we treat lawbreakers. Some might say it's a death sentence, but really, it's a chance for life."

"Anyway," the doctor continued, "Your assignment is this. Recently there have been herds of tauros -roaming the countryside because of some grass there. They do this every season but there is something new for this year. Due to this herd breeding with many arcanine and other fire types, they have developed some…interesting aspects." He pulled up a picture of a strange pokemon that we hadn't seen in biology and definitely not anywhere else.

It was muscular and large, with huge horns on either side of its head. Its four legs ended in hooves, but around the hooves were fires blazing, and smoke came out of the pokemon's fiery nostrils. Its foot was frozen in pawing at the ground and its coat was a ruddy complexion. It was obviously a tauros but not one like we had ever seen before. I sidled up for a closer look.

"This is a picture captured by a photographer of said tauros. You will be armed with three ultra balls each. Catch as many as possible, but DO NOT be seen. They will kill on sight. This is not some story book where the prince and princess will ride off in the sunset on the back of their shiny tauros, this is real life damnit and you had all better treat this like you life depends on it, because it does. These things are able to know flare blitz, flame charge, and even flamethrower as well as giga impact. You need to be careful."

He pressed into each of our hands those old archaic devices that were once used to catch our best friends, our worst enemies, our families and partners.

"This is a pokeball. As soon as you see a tauros, chuck it at it, scoop it up and run. Do not miss, or you will all die. Now get out, I don't want to see your faces anymore."

As he shooed us off, it seemed to me that Dr. N was crying. Of course, he couldn't possibly know that the entire venture would end in tragedy. He couldn't know that his idea would set into action the events that would completely change his life, his son's, his friends and all of Hoenn.

He couldn't possible know that everything was going to hell.

**Like it, hate it? Review if you do any of these.**

**Question: Do you like the plot and idea that the pokemon have adapted? Answer in your review.**

**Shoutout: Read Alphinia's Engimas: All That Glitters. It's a great OT fic with likeable characters and a great voice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**

The gates were closed by the time we were ten feet out, smashing together and grating like a nail on chalkboard. The guards called out encouragement, but were most likely not expecting us to come back. But hell, I wasn't expecting to be coming back, so I can't be too upset about that.

The light was dappling the ground of the forest, shadows hitting randomly and splitting our faces down the middle, dark and light.

"Guys, do we know where those things are?" Blake asked under his voice. He was fingering the yellow and brown balls in his pocket, his only protection out here.

"Well, we can, well, we can follow the t-tracks and um, we can see if the tauros went this way." Darell knelt down and sifted through dirt, looking for a print. He exclaimed and waved us over.

"Guys, I t-think I found something!"

He all sauntered over there and knelt in the ground. The forest had a clean, earthy smell, the recent rains making the dirt wet and squishy, threatening to pull off shoes if we sank too far down.

"These tracks are deep depressions, see?" Darell's fingers pointed out the track imbedded in the soft ground and then turned again. He said, "And these are hoof prints. Only a tauros would be heavy enough to make that kind of track."

"Hey, Darell, come over here for a second." Kara's voice floated over a bush and Darell turned around, lumbering towards her. I followed as well as Mindy.

Where the hell was Blake? He had been here, but then he disappeared.

Kara beckoned us over, her black hair falling over her shoulder and brushing her arm as she pointed towards the tracks in front of her.

Darell knelt beside her and puzzled over the tracks. "Hmm, imprint of three claws, pads on the foot. Okay, so then this must be a cat or dog pokemon. But the claws aren't stuck in very deep, so it must be…"

"A liepard or the other one, uh, uh purrloin!" Mindy exclaimed, pointing at it. "See, I heard about them. They're dark, and very light, so their claws would not go in too deep. Purrloin and liepard were tagged and brought here almost a hundred years ago, to see how they would react it the hoenn region. There weren't many dark types native to here, so they thought it would be good to widen the types that could be found here. My dad told me they thrived here, and grew stronger than their Unovan counterparts. Right, Darell?"

"Y-yeah. Good job." Darell looked thunderstruck, staring at Mindy like he had never seen her before. She was usually quite airheaded, thinking only about clothes and gossiping. She wasn't stupid, she just liked to do other things instead of reading and studying.

Mindy blushed and turned away, mumbling that it was nothing. Kara looked at me and grinned wickedly.

She came over to me and whispered in my ear, "They seem to be getting along very well."

I looked over. It was true; they were talking about pokemon, Darell's favorite subject. However, it wasn't the fact that they were talking about Mindy's favorites, mainly growlithe, vulpix and smoochum, the only cute ones in the biology textbook, but the fact that Darell was looking like he was in heaven.

Then we heard a scream, a roar and everything went to hell.

We followed the scream to a large clearing, where a group of the pokemon we were looking for were standing, smoke coming out of their noses as they pawed the ground and grazed.

Off to the left of the herd was a small calf, hiding between the legs of its mother as she faced off against a small figure standing about twenty feet away, hand clutched tightly around something in his hand. Beyond them was a small ponyta, grazing and looking cautiously at the much larger pokemon. Without its mother or protector around, it was poised to run at any second. A tauros looked at it and the ponyta ran away quickly into taller grass.

A glint shone off of it as he turned around, sprinting towards the shelter of the trees about one hundred yards away. Darell cursed and moved quickly through the bushes, trying to avoid stepping on sticks.

The tauros saw Blake running away and charged, head lowered and body wreathed in flame.

"Crap, it's using flame charge! Dammit Blake, get the hell out of the way!" Darell yelled, all traces of awkwardness lost as he charged through the undergrowth.

The tauros caught up to Blake easily and hooked her horns underneath his arm. With an almost contemptible flick of her horns, she tossed him as easily as she would a doll to the side, smashing him against a tree.

Darell seemed to come out of nowhere, slamming into the tauros's side and running over towards Blake's limp body, hovering over him and looking as protective as a mother kangaskhan, which were rumored to be so defensive of their young that they did not let their babies out of their pouches until they were six years old and fully grown.

I ran beside the girls, mind buzzing as I contemplated the possibilities. Blake could be dead. One of my best friends for more than half of my life could be gone, snuffed out by a tauros. He had been with me when I kissed a girl for the first time, gotten me my first date, taught me how to play baseball.

Before I knew it, I was crying. I ran up to Darell, fighting my tears furiously and saying quietly, "How bad is it?"

He turned around and I saw the tear tracks on his face. He showed me the ruin that had once been my best friend.

A hole as large as a fist was marring his left side, and his face was a mess of cuts and bruises, but the cuts and bruises he could deal with. It was nothing worse than what he got at his parent's hands.

The thing that scared me was the rib bone sticking out of his side, stark white against his smooth tan skin. Burns covered his side and face, a testament to the fiery attack.

His heart was fluttering and his breath was shallow and rapid. I turned away, sickened by what I saw. The scene that awaited me on the other side of my vision was not very good either.

Mindy and Kara were next to each other, standing in front of the tauros. The tauros charged and they hurled themselves away, hitting the ground and muddying their dark clothes.

My mind was racing as the tauros charged towards me. Everything turned down to time. Ten seconds until the tauros hit me. Darell was reaching for the pokeball in his pocket, hoping to distract it. Approximately seven seconds. The ball was in his hands but he couldn't seem to get a grip on the smooth surface. Blake was stirring behind me as I reached into my pocket. Five seconds. My hand closed around the ball and I pulled it out. Darell was shouting, throwing the ball as it tumbled end over end towards the charging tauros. The tauros popped inside the ball, and then time went back up.

I threw a ball as hard as I could at where the tauros had been only a sparse few moments ago, but it missed, sailing far over and smacking a pokemon in the tall grass. A sucking noise and a _ding_ sounded and I ran over, checking what I had done. The lone pokeball was sitting there, polished against the dirt ground, shining like a diamond in the rough.

Darell came with me, looking steadily at the ball, eyes shining with tears and excitement. "Good job Ralph, now let's get out of here. Now."

He put his hand on my shoulder and I shook it off, picking up the ball and rolling the smooth surface in my hand, watching it catch the light. It was red and white, with a big white button in the middle. I reached out towards it, mesmerized and pressed the button.

"NO!" Darell shouted, trying to snatch the ball out of my hands, but I shook him off and stared as the ball slowly creaked open. A flash of light came from within and the ball erupted, shooting out a stream of energy to the ground.

The light subsided and standing there was a ponyta, but it was different.

The species was one of the fastest out there, supposedly able to run at speeds up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour. It had flames sprouting from its mane and a fiery tail stretching for a good foot behind it.

The only difference between this ponyta and the usual ones was its coat. It was a dark layer of fur; almost black, that was breathtakingly beautiful. It looked at me regally, head and body poised to run, like the skittish pokemon it was.

Darell came up behind me and gasped. He knelt down and ran his hands over the pokemon's fur. The ponyta looked very uncomfortable but did not shy away. It was almost three feet in height, up to me waist and about four feet long.

"Wow, this must be a ponyta that bred with houndoom, or weavile and mightyena. See? It's also pretty large for a ponyta, so it must be pretty old, almost a year, I'd say."

The ponyta stiffened and galloped away, moving quickly towards where Blake was lying.

I ran after it, trying in vain to grab it by the head or coat. There was no place to find purchase, so my hand slipped off the short coat and I tripped, losing my balance. Mindy and Kara were standing protectively in front of Blake, who looked like a mess.

The ponyta pulled up short and I barreled into it, knocking it over and rolling around with it in a bundle of fur and skin. I lay there, panting, arms wrapped around the ponyta when I realized that the flames weren't hurting. I yelped and scrambled to my feet.

Why didn't that hurt? Shouldn't I be lying next to Blake now, moaning and whining? Maybe I just wasn't expecting it to hurt. I reached out and felt the ponyta's mane, expecting to be burned badly. It didn't hurt at all.

This was strange. Did the books ever say that ponyta's manes didn't burn?

"Kara, c'mere for a second. I need you to do something." She walked over, her face a mess.

"Is Blake all right? What'd Darell say?"

I said nothing, not wanting to have my voice betray me. I had cried enough for one day.

Instead I took her hand and put it on the ponyta's mane. She cried out in pain and said, voice shaking as she sucked on her finger, "What was that for? Isn't everything bad enough without you putting my hand on your freaking horse's burning mane? Haven't I gone through enough already?"

"I'm sorry, I just thought, um, see?" Words had failed me, so actions must suffice. I put my hand on top of the ponyta's mane. It shuddered underneath my touch but stayed there. Nothing hurt, there was only a slight tickling.

I took my hand off. "See? It doesn't hurt, it's really weird!" Then I saw the look Kara was giving me. It was filled with revulsion, sadness and somewhere there, pity.

"You're telling me that your friend is lying there dying in ways so painful you can't even understand and you're sitting here geeking out about your pet's fire not hurting you?" Her face was slack and emotionless as she said that. "Do you not even care what's going on? Don't you give a damn about him?" Her voice was rising, higher and higher, louder and louder. "What do you have to say for yourself, Ralph? Are you afraid? Or do you not care at all?" She turned on her heel and marched away towards where Mindy and Darell were sitting next to Blake.

I looked over to my three friends, who were gathered around the fourth, hands linked. Could I really have been that selfish, to go off with a new pokemon, something that I didn't even trust completely, instead of standing vigil with my friend, who was lying there dying?

I got up, whistled for the ponyta to come with me and walked slowly towards them. They heard me coming and waved me over, accepting me into the circle. After a moment of quiet I cleared my throat.

"Guys, The ponyta here can take Blake back. He needs medical help. Let's go, okay. Darell, help me pick Blake up. Mindy, go ahead with Kara," I all but commanded them, but they listened anyway.

Blake was unconscious by now, so Darell and I hauled him up, then attached him to the ponyta's back with some spare vines we found around the area.

"Ponyta, keep the flames down, we don't want to burn him." She whinnied in agreement and suddenly it was a lot less hot.

She started off with a trot, and soon had Darell and me sprinting to keep up. Mindy and Kara were soon next to us, and we all walked together, guarding the body that was our friend. Growls were heard from behind us and next to us, but we didn't pay attention, at least until a liepard leapt out and tackled Kara.

"Help!" she yelled as she went tumbling away. Mindy squealed and Darell said quickly, "Ralph, go help her. I'll stay with Blake. Get him off ponyta!" We quickly unbound him and my ponyta leapt with me towards the liepard and Kara, both snarling as they circled around each other. The liepard darted in and scratched at Kara, but was sent off with a boot to the foreleg.

"Ponyta!" My mind was reeling, searching for a move that I might remember from class.

"Aw, hell, just burn it." Ponyta leapt into action, spitting a steady but small stream of fire at the liepard. It hit and it fell back a few steps, snarling. The liepard leapt at the ponyta, snarling and scratching, clawing bloody furrows in The ponyta's skin. With a quick kick, Ponyta knocked the liepard back a few steps, sending it reeling back and snarling in pain.

Just as it recovered, Kara threw a ball at it, catching it high in the shoulder. The ball opened and absorbed the liepard, hitting the ground with a thud and shaking like crazy. We waited on bated breath, The ponyta with flames already on the ready, me and Kara with our fists up. The ball dinged and Kara whooped. We laughed and danced around. Ponyta pranced around. Kars hugged me and we spun around, high on the excitement.

Then we realized that a friend of ours was dying and Kara had just captured a bloodthirsty monster.

The walls of the city were close, and the guards shouted down when they saw us, opening the gates. As soon as we walked in we were assaulted by guards and doctors, who had glimpsed Blake's sorry state from above the wall. They rushed him to the hospital, with us tagging along for the ride.

We burst into the sleek, white hospital with doctors and nurses milling around like so many combee in a hive.

They took him to the operating room, with us sitting down in the waiting room, huddled together, sharing stories and taking turns looking at the pokemon we had caught. In the confusion, Darell had caught a tauros right before I had caught Ponyta, but he and Kara had yet to let them out of their balls.

Even after the fear and panic that the trainer deaths had caused, people were still afraid of the pokemon in the world. So many people had died from them that they hadn't even given thoughts that it might have been the trainer's faults or even other trainers. Pokemon, however smart, were still subordinates, and they followed orders. If a pokemon kills a trainer, who's to say it wasn't a rival that killed him? The pokemon won't be speaking in its defense, that's for sure.

Four hours into the operation, we all fell asleep in each others arms. And we dreamed.

_I was remembering what it had been like, running through a forest, my six pokemon with me. We were all together, each of us the best of friends, as we had been for many years. My trainer, my sceptile, my pidgeot, my dustox, my wailmer, and my houndoom. They were all mine, and we were all together. The sceptile had always been the leader of our group, keeping the peace and telling everyone who's who and what's what._

_We weren't the best team, but we were friends and that's all that had mattered. This had been so long ago. Back when we were all together, before we were separated. Before we were torn apart, like real families were. Too many losses, too many sorrows. My name was-_

I jolted awake, a hand on my arm as I looked up into the face or a surgeon. He was still in his green scrubs, mask around his face and blood along his smock.

"No, no, please." I already knew what they were here for. They were here to take him way.

"Did he have any family? Where do his parents live?" His voice was far off in my head. I nodded, and told him where they lived. He nodded and moved off. My other friends were all awake by now, tears in their eyes as they hugged each other. I lost myself as we all cried together, mourning our friend.

The doors banged open as a well dressed couple walked in the ICU. We were all in a pile on the floor, and they walked up to us, looking down at us with disdained expressions.

"Children, where are the doctors?" the woman asked, her upturned mouth giving her an unpleasant and petulant expression.

"In room 337. Who are you?" I asked, eyes red rimmed as I looked up at them

The woman was wearing a purple business suit and high heels, with a matching purse on her arm. The man next to her was big and muscular, almost six foot two, but still a good couple inches smaller than Darell. I had never seen them before, but they looked oddly familiar…

"We," huffed the woman, "Are the parents of the idiot who managed to get himself killed after cutting school and collecting data for Dr. Nieves. Now, where is he? I demand to know-"

Her tirade was cut off as Kara launched herself at her, scratching at her eyes and kicking her. She covered herself but the blows kept coming. The man went to help his wife, but Mindy stopped him.

"Get out of my way, missy," the man said dangerously, a glint in his eye.

"NO! You beat him, you made his life terrible, you complete and utter-" The man's foot connected with her leg in an almost contemptible blow and she fell to one knee. He punched her in the side of the head and she crumpled, wordlessly.

With a wordless howl, Darell attacked the man, punching him in the stomach and doubling him over easily. He brought his hands together and slammed them against the base of his skull, a crack echoing across the room as the men tumbled to the ground.

The woman was likewise unconscious, and Kara was breathing heavily, as well as Darell. Darell was looking at his hands and back at the man in horror. He backed away, terrified. Mindy was stirring in the corner. All of a sudden, the lights went out and my mouth wasn't working.

I was shoved through some doors and led up some stairs, but other wise we weren't really aware of what was going on. Without any ado, my blindfold was ripped off as well as our gags and we saw the inside of the lab, where this had all began.

Dr. Nieves was pacing back and forth, and looked up when he saw us back. Mindy looked terrible, bruises covering her face. Darell was horrified, his eyes all but dead, but Kara was as defiant as ever. She walked up to Dr. Nieves and looked him in the eyes and did something totally Kara.

She punched him right in the face. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? Sending out some poor, defenseless kids to complete some research? Well one of them is dead and the other one is going through some crazy shock! What is wrong with you?"

Dr. Nieves looked abashed and said quietly, "I am so sorry I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Here, give me that." He beckoned to Darell, who mutely handed him his pokeball.

"Any one else catch anything?" he asked quietly.

"Ponyta," I said, not trusting my voice to say anything else without cracking.

"I caught a liepard," said Kara, her voice down to normal levels now.

"Keep them, you'll need them. Here, Darell." Dr. Nieves handed him a new pokeball and Darell took it without a word.

"It's an abra. I thought it would be perfect for a smart boy like you." The doctor was openly crying now as he handed Mindy another ball.

"That's a vulpix. It's very much like you. Be good to her." Mindy nodded and gave him a hug. Dr. Nieves looked stunned and then he gave her one back.

"Why are you giving these to us, Dad?" Darell seemed to have finally found his voice.

"Because you're leaving. It's too dangerous for you and your pokemon to stay. These lab ones as well, we've, well, we've done bad things, it's true. All in the name of science, but terrible nonetheless. They need to leave, and soon. You're parents are already informed, although some may press charges against me. I could be in big trouble, so don't you kids waste this opportunity. You guys have a chance to change the world. Here are some clothes," he handed us each a bag. "They also have common supplies from back in the trainer era. You kids won't be alone. You will have your pokemon, and better yet, there will be others. The reclusion is not as widespread as one might have thought."

"I understand you will want some privacy. Leave kids, and remember, we all love you." He gave Darell a big hug and kissed his forehead after standing on his tip-toes and walked away, shoulders shaking violently.

I turned to my friends. "I can't go, I won't go. It's not fair, we have to stay. Blake would've-"

Mindy burst into tears and Kara gave me a scathing look as she led her off, rubbing her shoulders.

Darell rounded on me. "Shut up, man! We need to leave. It's that or be arrested. Let's go!" He pulled on my arm, but I refused to budge.

"It's my fault Darell. I told us to skip, it was me, this would have never happened if I-" I was sobbing now, tears running freely down my cheeks.

"Shut the hell up Ralph! You couldn't have done anything about it! You weren't to blame, no more than I was. You shut up and get yourself ready, we have to leave now." I turned around, tears running down my face unbidden. Darell saw and grabbed my face roughly between his two hands, holding me in place and rubbing the tears off with dirty rough fingers. "You're fine, y'hear? I already lost one friend today dammit, don't you go away too. We're fine. We gotta get outta here, they are gonna find out what we did sooner or later. So come on, let's hurry up. Mindy! Kara!"

He bellowed and they came, dressed in dark clothes and the bags of clothes and items on their backs. He led us out into the night, not knowing where we would go, or who to trust. We were fugitives, assaulters and felons. We couldn't hide, so we had to run. But we weren't alone, as Dr. Nieves had said. We had new friends, shadows and flames that would protect us. We were together, and that was all that mattered.

**Hey, thanks for reading. Now review, seriously. Did you like it? Hate it? Leave a review and tell me!**

**Question: Any ideas for the pokemon for the characters? I have a basic idea, but I'd love to hear your ideas. Leave your answer in the review section.**


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